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OVERVIEW

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Brief Synopsis

The Bowery Boys'''' leader recalls his days as a World War II spy in Arabia.

After a series of café robberies in New York's Bowery district, Mike Clancy, the owner of the café that the Bowery Boys frequent,is concerned that he might be next, so Horace DeBussy "Sach" Jones rigs his cash register to set off a string of booby traps. One day, Lester Bradfield, an official from the U.S. War Dept., visits the café to demand the return of an aluminum cooking pot issued to Stanislaus "Duke" Coveleskie when he served on a mess detail in North Africa during World War II. Duke claims to have lost the pot during the war, but Bradfield insists upon proof, so Duke launches into a long story about his adventures in the battle against Rommel's forces: Duke and Sach and their Bowery companions, Chuck, Myron and Blinky, are all serving in the same unit and, when their sergeant is asked to supply two soldiers for what may be a suicide mission, he is only too happy to nominate Duke and Sach. Their mission is to impersonate German soldiers to infiltrate enemy territory and deliver a message to a supposedly friendly sultan whose country is occupied by the Germans. Posing as Hauptman Otto von Schnabel and his orderly Schultz, Sach and Duke are also ordered to contact an undercover agent known only as "The Hawk" and are given one half of a ring as identification and told that The Hawk will identify himself by presenting the other half. Sach and Duke reach the palace of Sultan Sidi-Omar and seek an audience with him. The sultan and his aide, Hassan, quickly realize that Sach and Duke are Americans and Sach hands over the letter stating that the U.S. Army intends to liberate the country, but needs information about German troop placements. Unknown to Sach and Duke, the sultan is a double agent in league with the Nazis and turns the message over to German officer Wolff. The sultan invites Sach and Duke to stay and relax, and while they are being entertained by several dancing girls, one of the dancers, Shareen, recognizes Sach's ring and slips him a message to meet her that night. The sultan gives Sach a letter to take back to the American high command, which is, in fact, a trick to lure the army into a trap. When Sach meets Shareen, she shows him the other half of the ring, tells him that she is The Hawk and arranges to provide him with a substitute message for the U.S. forces. Later, when Shareen takes Sach and Duke to meet resistance leader Col. Ahmed Tabari, Wolff follows them. After Shareen leaves to gather more details about the location of a panzer division, Sach and Duke are about to use Ahmed's secret radio to send a message regarding the sultan's defection and trap, when they are arrested by Wolff. While Sach, Duke and Ahmed are interrogated about their activities, the Germans transmit a false message in the boys' name to the U.S. base. After Hassan announces that Shareen has also been arrested, Sach and Duke learn that they are to be executed. A few hours before their execution, however, they are rescued by Chuck, Myron and Blinky, who are posing as German officers and are the advance guard of the invading U.S. force. They then manage to free Ahmed and Shareen, who leave to warn the U.S. troops of the potential ambush. Sach and the others overpower the sultan and the German officers in the palace and, thanks in part to their efforts, Rommel is defeated eventually. By the time Duke finishes his account, Bradfield is exhausted and still has not found out what happened to the pot. Duke is about to continue with the saga, but Bradfield and the boys have had enough. Sach offers to pay Bradfield the $4.38 Duke owes for the pot and he gratefully accepts. When Sach attempts to take the cash from the register, however, he triggers several booby traps including one involving the missing pot, which has been used in the café as a plant holder and it falls on Bradfield's head, knocking him out.